


The Final Regret

by CreeperMaster343



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, LinkxMalon and LinkxMidna are far from main focus, Not really linked universe but best way to discern the difference between characters, Twilight isn't really in the story, nor is midna or malon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28979535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreeperMaster343/pseuds/CreeperMaster343
Summary: In the aftermath of the Twili Crisis, a lost Spirit finally gains the reunion he seeks, and his final regret is finally eased.And some worldbuilding on Fairy Lore in chapter 2.
Relationships: Link & Navi (Legend of Zelda), Link/Malon (Legend of Zelda), Link/Midna (Legend of Zelda), Link/Navi (Legend of Zelda)
Kudos: 7





	1. The Final Regret

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is the first fanfic I have ever written, and I would very much appreciate some constructive criticism and feedback.  
> Disclaimer: this fic features Link x Navi (and some OotLink x Malon and TPLink x Midna if you squint), if you don’t like it, you can go away and not read or review, I will not accept flames or people trying to be gatekeepers about ships, and I will also not accept flames of people trying to tell me that Navi should be annoying  
> I also don’t own anything.  
> Also important information regarding some concepts that I make reference to is this fic are in chapter 2, as a form of codex  
> Also a shout out to 'Companion, Lost' by the user 'apartment' whose work inspired me.  
> Otherwise enjoy the story

The Lost Spirit that was known as the ‘Hero’s Shade’ had spent many a year wandering the lands of Hyrule after his untimely demise, but it seemed that thanks to the actions of his descendent and the Twilight Princess, he was finally able to ease all but one of his regrets of his mortal life. As he watched over his descendent as he returned to Ordon Village, he empathised with the feelings that the Hero of Twilight was no doubt experiencing over the departure of the Twilight Princess, who was his companion, and most likely had feelings for.  
  
The Shade though back to many of his own experiences and regrets in life, and how he had parted with his precious companion at the end of his first journey. He also thought of some of the what-ifs, such as if he had stayed after that night of drunken passion, with a certain rancher, though he had now mostly accepted his decisions and mistakes. But he did have one more thing to do before he could move onto the next realm.  
  
In the last interaction he had with the New Hero, he had been told that a Great Fairy in Gerudo desert wished to meet with the Shade, and knowing what both Navi and Tatl had taught him about the nature of the Fey of Hyrule and Termina, he was hoping that maybe he could ease his last regret as well.

* * *

It had taken the Shade some time to arrive at the vast Gerudo Desert, and while he was in this desert, he felt more physical than he had for a long time, with the blistering desert heat awakening some of his long unused senses.  
  
He eventually arrived at the cave that the Hero of Twilight had directed him to, and entered the cave, and found that it had already dramatically changed from what the young hero had described to him, it much more resembled the Fairy fountains of his youth. As soon the Shade entered he came forth to a Fountain on the first floor.  
  
The Shade then decided to announce his presence, “Great Fairy, you have requested my presence through the new hero, and I am now here,” in response a Great Fairy appeared in a flash of light. As soon as the light dissipated, the Shade needed only one moment to look at the Great Fairy to both realise her power and who she was, different, yet familiar, a magic he had not felt for many long years. He felt more alive than he had for a very long time. A sacred bond that had long been broken was repaired. The Shade whispered out only one word, a name that meant a tremendous amount to him,  
  
“Navi…”  
  
The now identified Navi responded, “Hello Link, it has been a long time, and I see that you have suffered greatly, please come over here and rest in the waters, while I cannot restore you as much as it pains me, I can at least relieve some of the pain you have suffered, and know that I am sorry for leaving you, and I realise it was the greatest mistake I ever made.” Link then moved over to the fountain, and collapsed into the waters, with Navi coming to sit alongside him. Navi then dismissed all of the Lesser Fey that served in her court and were currently surrounding them.  
  
Navi then stated, “I assume you wonder why I left you at the end of it all,” Link merely nodded in response. Navi then continued, “It was not fully of my own choice, though I cannot deny that to some degree I did choose of my own will. The part that wasn’t my own choice was that my presence was requested by the Fairy Queen Venus herself, who informed me that I was to become a Great Fairy, and eventually as part of my destiny, I would become the Fairy Queen as well.”  
Link then asked, “How was it not your choice to refuse the summon?”  
“Link, you have to understand that if I were to refuse a direct summon from the Fairy Queen herself, I would have been ostracised from Fairy society as a whole, and exiled. I would no longer be allowed in the Lost Woods, or the Fairy Otherworld, and would not be able to guide you to the Kokiri Grove,” Navi responded to Link’s question, and then she added, “Though in retrospect I wonder, it that would have been all that bad at all, considering the pain you went through both in Hyrule and Termina as a result of my departure.”  
  
Link accepted this reasoning both internally and through the bond he and Navi shared, and then asked the question he dreaded far more, “What about the part that was of your own will?”  
Navi sighed greatly in response and started her explanation, “That part is far more difficult to convey and most likely cannot be forgiven, though after all this time, I have built up the courage to finally tell you what I did not have the courage for before.” There was then a great pause that felt like a line of tension that was physical enough to cut it.  
  
Navi then cut it.  
  
“Link… I fell in love with you at some point in our journey together.”  
  
Link reacted to this with great surprise both physically, with a jump in his old bones in his upper body that shocked him away from Navi, and mentally with a brief breaking of the bond between his and Navi’s minds.  
  
Navi quickly reacted to Link’s surprise and grabbed his hand to hold him steady, and calm him down.  
  
Once Link had calmed down, and his bond with Navi’s mind had been restored he decided to ask a simple question, “When?”  
  
Navi simply responded in turn while shying her head away from Link’s eye, “Honestly I don’t exactly know when my feelings for you, developed from the care I was supposed to have as a Guardian fairy, into something more, all I know is that by the time of us arriving in Kakariko Village to be attacked by the Shadow beast, I knew that I had come to believe that nothing and no one mattered more to me than you.”  
  
Link pondered on this for a brief moment, and then asked the question seemed the most apparent at the time, “Then why if you cared some much about me, did that factor into you leaving, and why did you not tell me until now?”  
“I felt like it would not be reciprocated, and that if I had, my feelings would have scorned, and that you would not truly understand. I also through internally that you would have preferred someone of your actual size like Zelda, or Malon, not some mere little fairy,” Navi responded to Link’s question, while sending a feeling of shame across her and Link’s bond.  
  
“Maybe something could have come of it, due to you destiny”, Link responded to Navi, surprising her.  
She then quickly asked with some excitement, “You really mean that if I had informed you of my destiny, and had not left you in the drastic way I did, something could have happened?”  
  
“Possibly, I honestly don’t know, you do matter to me greatly Navi, maybe something more could have come of it… maybe in another life,” Link mournfully replied.  
  
Navi then echoed that statement, “Maybe in another life.”

* * *

After some time of simply enjoying each other’s presence, Navi then stated what Link had been dreading, “You have now eased your last regret Link, and I have eased my greatest regret. It is now time for you to move on and leave this world for good.”  
  
Link merely held onto Navi’s hand in response, and said a simple statement, “I know.”  
  
“Do not worry Link, I will meet you again in the world beyond, when it comes for my time to leave as well, and maybe then if you are willing to wait, we could see and try to see if something can develop,” Navi responded with some hope in her voice and eyes.  
  
Link replied simply with a small smile, “Maybe.”  
  
As Link’s old bones started to dissipate and he felt his spirit finally begin to leave the world, he heard a finally last set of words from Navi in his mind as he felt their bond begin to disappear, “Link I love you, please don’t ever forget that.”  
He then responded in kind, “I won’t.”  
  
And as his bond finally disappeared he moved on to next realm with a promise to keep.


	2. The Fairies of Hyrule (and Termina)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Important Information regarding Fairies in any possible Zelda fic I write

**The Fairies of Hyrule (and Termina):**

The Fairies of Hyrule are magical beings that serve the will of the Goddesses, and are immortal beings, though they can be killed through exhaustion of their life energy, or the powers of demons, and dark magic. They are separated into 2 castes, the Lesser Fey, and the Greater Fey. The Lesser Fey is then divided into two types: Wild Fey, and Court Fey. The Greater Fey are the heads of the Court Fey and are almost exclusively Great Fairies, and they all partake in the Court of the Fairy Queen.

**Reproduction:**

Fairies do not reproduce in a normal way compared to most species of Hyrule and instead due to being creatures of almost pure magic reproduce in a method where a large amount of magic energy gathers in an area and they is ‘ignited’ by a catalyst that causes the birth of the Lesser Fey. The nature of catalysts determine whether a Lesser Fey is a wild fey or a court fey, as catalysts can be something of random chance that merely occurs, or can be planned by a Greater Fey to determine the nature of particular Fey to serve roles in the Courts of the Greater Fey. An example of a random catalyst that produces a Wild Fey would be something such as a baby’s first laugh which provides necessary spark for a Fairy to exist, as special events such as these hold great magical power. While a planned catalyst would the creation of Healing fairies by the Great Fairies to serve a role in being able to heal mortals without sacrificing their life energy.

**Lesser Fey:**

**Wild Fey:**

Wild Fey are random run of the mill fairies that are created by random catalysts, they do not have a specific role to play, or have been influenced by planned catalysts to have specific features. They are known for being mischievous creatures that played pranks on other denizens of Hyrule, and possess on average relatively weak magical capability even though all fairies can use magic, in specific healing magic. Wild Fey are also known being friendly with other magical creatures such as the Skull Kids of the lost woods. An interesting feature of Lesser Fey are the presence of siblings, and male fairies, who do not tend to exist in the Court Fey. Male Fey are a rare oddity that only exist due to random catalysts, and Fairy siblings come into existence when a singe catalyst event creates 2 or more fairies.

**Court Fey:**

Court Fey are fairies that have been influenced by planned catalysts to fulfill a certain role in the respective court of the catalyst, Court Fey are known for being quite rare to witness, and are far more magically capable than Wild Fey, with different types of Court Fairies being specialised in different types of magic depending on the needs of the Court of the planned catalyst. Two significant types of Court Fey are the famous Pink Healing Fairies who can heal weary travellers, or near dead adventures without using up their life energy and being able to continue to live on, and the mysterious Guardian Fairies of the Court of the Great Deku Tree.

**Guardian Fairies:**

Guardian Fairies are a unique type of Fey that are created by the Great Deku Tree to serve in his court as Guardians of his Kokiri children. Guardian Fairies possess many unique abilities such as they possess a sacred and almost telepathic link with their respective charges, that allows them to always possess a very acute understanding of the emotions and thoughts of their charges, and vice versa. This ability extend to complete telepathy with the Great Deku Tree so that he can always be aware of the wellbeing of his children. They also possess an ability known as Flash as their main defensive ability where they are capable of creating a large explosion of light that can blind temporarily predators or threats to their charges so that they can ensure their safety. They are also capable of healing magical that is almost comparable to the powers of the healing fairies though they cannot revive from near death without putting their life energy in serious danger.

**Greater Fey:**

Greater Fey are the other caste of Fairies that are vastly more powerful in magical capability and are the direct servants of the Goddesses through the Fairy Queen who is their emissary.

**Lesser Fey to Greater Fey:**

While Greater Fey are immortal, it is a regular tradition that eventually the Fairy Queen will leave the realm of Mortals to go and serve the Goddesses directly. During these events, a selection of Greater Fey will be chosen to being judged by the Fairy Queen over a certain period of time, so that a replacement can be chosen. When a replacement is chosen that respective Greater Fey will choose a Lesser Fey from their Court to become the new Greater Fey of their respective Court. A Lesser Fey from another Court can also be chosen by the Fairy Queen to become a Greater Fey, and create a new Court as well.

**Great Fairies:**

Great Fairies are the vast majority of Greater Fairies, who possess vast magical abilities, from great healing powers, to the ability to enchant weapons, or other objects, and to be able to gift magical abilities to normal mortal denizens of Hyrule, as well as to possess many different physical forms. Each Great Fairy is the head of their respective court and serves as a catalyst for lesser fey, to influence their creation so that they can serve a specific role that is required by the Greater Fey. Each Great Fairy also possesses a nexus of power which acts as a bridge between the normal Hyrule realm, and the Otherworld of the Fairies, with the most common type of nexus being a Fairy fountain.

**The Court of the Great Deku Tree:**

The Court of the Great Deku Tree is a unique situation that exists within the Fey courts as part of an agreement between the Great Deku Tree and the Fairy Queen, as while the Deku Tree is not a Fey himself, he does serve as a catalyst for the Guardian Fairies and they all serve within his court, and the Great Deku Tree also serves within the court of the Fairy Queen as well. Further features of this court is the fact that The Lost Woods, and the Kokiri Grove also exist within the Fairy Otherworld, but in an area that overlaps greatly with the normal realm.

**The Queen of the Fairies:**

The Fairy Queen is the most powerful of all the Fey, and serves the head of her Court, and as an emissary and servant to the Goddesses. She has almost limitless magical power and control over all Fey, and is able to dictate how the Greater Fey should look in their physical forms, and has the power to elevate Lesser Fey to the power of and nature of Greater Fey. The Queen of the Fairies is technically immortal, though the Queen will eventually requested by the Goddesses to join them as a direct servant, and when this occurs the Queen will choose a replacement for the role of Fairy Queen from a group of Greater Fey.

**The Fairy Otherworld:**

The Fairy Otherworld is a realm that is not on the same mortal realm as Hyrule is, but is connected to Hyrule through many entrances of power such as the Nexuses of the Greater Fey. All fairies are capable of navigating these entrances to the Realm and are capable of leading other beings through these entrances. This realm exists as a realm that is connected and serves as part of the Sacred Realm that is under the control of the Fairy Queen, and thus she has power to control the makeup of the Realm and what exists in it. There is a unique part of the Otherworld known as The Lost Woods that is under the control of the Court of the Great Deku Tree.

**The Lost Woods:**

The Lost Woods is a unique part of the Otherworld that exists more in the realm of Hyrule than any other part of the Otherworld, and has the capability to move around the realm of Hyrule and be able to bridge the gap between Hyrule and other Realms such as the land of Termina. The Lost Woods are under the control of The Great Deku Tree, and is home to an inner forest where the Kokiri and Guardian Fairies reside. This section unlike other sections of the Otherworld is more suspect to intrusion from the normal Hyrule realm, but is protected by many different magical wards, through these can be broken.


End file.
